Exponential stabilization of mobile robots with nonholonomic constraints

An exponentially stable controller for a two-degree-of-freedom robot with nonholonomic constraints is presented. Although this type of system is open-loop controllable, this system has been shown to be nonstabilizable via pure smooth feedback. A particular class of piecewise continuous controllers is shown to exponentially stabilize the mobile robot about the origin. This controller has the characteristic of not requiring infinite switching like other approaches, such as the sliding controller. Simulation results are presented. >